String tensioner for violins



Dec. 11 1923. v

E. F. HAFELFINGER STRING TENSIONER FOR VIOLINS Filed Dec. 4 2

Ir M (I I Patented Dec. 11, 1923.

PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL F. HAFELFINGER, OF WEEHAWKEN, NEW JERSEY.

STRING TENSIONER FOR VIOLINS.

Application filed December 4, 1922.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL F. HAFELFINGER, a citizen or the United States, and resident of \Veehawken, in the county o1 Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in String Tensioners for Violins, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to string tensioning devices of the type which includes an elbow lever or bell crank mounted in a bracket adapted to be attached to the tail piece of a violin.

In my prior Patent No. 1,361,049, granted December 7th, 1920, I have shown and claimed a device of this character in which the bracket for supporting the lever is provided with a slit which is opened to receive the lever and then closed to retain said lever but permit of its free swinging movement within 'n'edetermined limits.

One object of my present invention is to avoid the necessity of opening and closing the slit and to provide a simple retaining member whereby in the assembling opera-- tion it is not necessary to bend any of: the parts.

To accomplish this object I provide the bracket with an open ended slot in one end thereof, and into which the lever may be freely inserted. The lever is retained in place by a separate plate or leaf secured to the bracket, and having an aperture registering with the inner end portion of the slot. Preferably the post which holds the bracket to the tail piece also holds the plate or leaf against endwise movement on the bracket. Thus, no bending of the parts is required and they are retained in proper position when once assembled.

As a further object of my invention 1 provide means for preventing the lever from injuring the instrument in case the string should break. A preferred means of accomplishing this result is disclosed but not claimed in my prior patent above referred to, and the present application is in part a division of the application on which said patent was granted.

This preferred means includes a spring acting on the elbow lever, and tending to Serial No. 604,642.

press the end of the lever to which the string is attached, in the same direction as the string pulls said lever. Therefore, in case the string breaks, the return movement of the lever under its own resiliency and when released from the strain of the string, is resisted and cushioned by the spring. This spring is preferably in the form of a leaf clamped in place between the bracket and the tail piece. By encircling the post and presenting a groove or notch for engagement with the lever the spring is re tained in place even when the device is detached from the tail piece.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation of a. violin showing my improved device attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the device as attached to the tail piece.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the lever, and

Fig. 5 .is a perspective view of the spring.

My improved device is adapted for attachment to the tail piece 10 of the violin, and provides means whereby the string 11 may be tensioned over the bridge 12. The device includes a bracket 13 in the form of a small plate or bar adapted to be secured to the tail piece 10. The bracket may be secured to the tail piece by a post 14 rigid with the bracket and adapted to extend through an aperture in the tail piece and be clamped by a nut 15.

The bracket serves to support a lever 16 which is pivoted for limited swinging move ment for the tensioning of the string. The lever has an upstanding portion 17 at an angle to the plane of the bracket, and provided with a head 18 constructed in any suitable manner for the attachment of the string 11 thereto. The lever also has a portion 19 extending in the general direction 01'' the bracket and beneath the latter. Extending through the post 1 1 is an adjusting screw 20 which engages with the end of the portion 19 of the lever, so that by turniug this adjusting screw the lever may be caused to swing about its pivotal connection in the bracket, and the upp r end of this elbow lever or hell crank may be caused to swing back and. put the string under the esired tension.

One important feature of my invention involves the means employed for pivotally connecting this elbow lever on the bracket. As illustrated, the lever is provided with a flattened portion or portion of reduced diameter 21, and the bracket is provided with a slot extending into the same from the end opposite to the post 14:. The portion 21 of reduced diameter on the lever 16 is of the proper size to slip into this slot, and the lever itself above and below the portion of reduced diameter is of such size that the lever cannot slip endwise through the slot. The portion of reduced diameter is also so proportioned that the lever may have a limited tilting or swinging move ment. i or retain g the lever within the slot l: provide a leaf or plate 2?) which may be made of thin sheet metal or leaf spring stock. This leaf or plate has an aperture 24 therein of such size that it may slip over the head 18 of the lever, and may lie flat against the upper surface of the bracket 13. lhe plate is secured to the bracket in such position that the plate registers with only the inner end portion of the slot 22, and therefore holds the lever against movement out through the end of the slot.

As very simple means of connecting the plate to the bracket and preventing any endwise movement of the plate, the latter may be provided with a second aperture 25 encircling the post 14. its the plate is disposed between the bracket and the tail pie:e it may be clamped by tightening the nut- 15. By means of this simple construction the lever is pivoted to the bracket, retained in place. and the assembling operation does not involve any bending, drilling or threading of the bracket or lever.

For preventing the device from injuring the instrument in case the string should. break, T provide cushioning means normally acting on the lever and pressing it in the same direction in which the spring tends to pull it. This cushioning device is illustrated but not claimed in my prior patent above referred to. As illustrated it includes a leaf spring 26 having its body portion lying along and clamped to the upper surface of the bracket, and having an upstanding end portion 27 acting against the upstanding portion 17 of the lever at a point above the bracket and tending to press the lever against the adjusting screw. The spring may be retained in place by being provided with an aperture 28 encircling the post 1%, and by being provided with a crotch, fork, or side flanges 29 receiving or partially en- V eroy/1e circling the upstanding portion of the lever. The body portion of the spring will be clamped in place between the bracket and the tail piece of the violin upon the tighten ing of the nut 15. hen the device. is detached from the violin, the spring will still remain in place and will hold the parts against rattling or lost motion. It will be noted that the tension of the string will not affect the tension of the spring, and that in case the stung should break the spring resists the sudden swinging movement of the lever which would otherwise occur, due to the resilience of the parts and the strain to which they are subjected. ii ithout the spring the lower end of the portion 19 of the lever might and often does swing down and violently strike the upper surface of the violin in case the string breaks. The spring cushions and prevents such sudden rebound, and thus protects the violin from injury.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A string tensioner for musical instruments, including a bracket having a slot in one end thereof, a lever having a portion of reduced diameter disposed in the slot, the portions of the lever on opposite sides of said reduced portion serving to prevent moven'ient of the lever in the slot back and forth through the plate, and a member secured to said bracket and having an aperture through which the lever extends, said member serving to prevent the lever from moving out of the open end of the slot.

2. A string tensioner for musical instruments, including a bracket having a slot in one end thereof, a lever having a portion of reduced diameter disposed in the slot, the portions of the lever on opposite sides of said reduced portion serving to prevent movement of the lever in the slot back and forth through the plate, and a plate secured to said bracket and having an aperture through which the lever extends, said plate preventing the lever from moving out of the open end of the slot.

3. A string tensioner for musical instruments, including a bracket having a slot in one end thereof, a lever having a portion of reduced diameter disposed in the slot, the portions of the lever On opposite sides of said reduced portion serving to prevent movement of the lever in the slot back and forth through the plate, and a plate secured to the bracket closely adjacent to one surface thereof, and having an aperture registering with the inner portion of the slot and preventing movement of the lever out of the end of the slot.

4. A string tensioner for musical instruments, including a bracket having a slot in one end thereof, a lever having a portion of reduced diameter disposed in the slot, the

portions of the lever on opposite sides of said reduced portion serving to prevent movement of the lever in the slot back and forth through the plate, a member secured to said bracket and having an aperture through which the lever extends, said member serving to prevent the lever from moving out of the open end of the slot, and a post for attaching said bracket to the tail piece of the instrument, said member having an aperture encircling said post.

5. A string tensioner for musical instruments, including a bracket having a slot in one end thereof, a lever having a portion of reduced diameter disposed in the slot, the portions of the lever on opposite sides of said reduced portion serving to prevent movement of the lever in the slot back and forth through the plate, a member secured to said bracket and having an aperture through which the lever extends, said member serving to prevent the lever from moving out of the open end of the slot. and a post for connecting said member to said bracket and serving as means for the securing of said bracket to the tail piece of the instrument.

6. A string tensioner for musical instruments, including a bracket having a slot in one end thereof, a lever having a portion of reduced diameter disposed in the slot, the portions of the lever on opposite sides of said reduced portion serving to prevent movement of the lever in the slot back and forth through the plate, a plate superposed on said bracket and having a pair of apertures, one registering with the inner end of said slot and encircling said lever, and a post secured to said bracket and extending through the other aperture, and serving to connect said bracket to the tail piece of the i nstrument.

7. A string tensioner for musical instruments, including a bracket having a slot in one end thereof, a plate secured to said bracket and having an aperture registering with the inner end of the slot, a lever extending through said aperture and having portions at opposite sides of said plate for preventing movement of the lever in the direction of the length of the slot and aperture, and an adjusting screw carried by said bracket for swinging said lever about the fulcrum connections formed by the engagement of the lever in said slot and aperture.

8. A string tensioner for musical instruments, including a bracket having a slot in one end thereof, a lever having a portion of reduced diameter disposed in the slot, the portions of the lever on opposite sides of said reduced portion serving to prevent movement of the lever in the slot back and forth through the plate, a member secured to said bracket and having an aperture through which the lever extends, said memmovement of the lever in the slot back and.

forth endwise through the plate and aperture, an adjusting screw carried by said bracket for swinging said lever about the fulcrum connections formed by the engagement of the lever in said slot and aperture, and a leaf spring secured to said plate and having a portion acting against said lever at a point spaced above said plate.

10. A string tensioning device, including a bracket, an elbow lever pivoted thereto, said lever having an end portion for the attachment of a string, and a spring secured to said bracket and acting against said lever to move it in the direction in which the string tends to pull it.

11. A string tensioning device, including a bracket, an elbow lever pivoted thereto, said lever having an end portion for the attachment of a string, and a spring secured to said bracket and acting against said lever to move it in the diiection in which the string tends to pull it, and an adjusting screw for moving said lever against the action of the string and spring.

12. A string tensioning device, including a bracket, an elbow lever pivoted thereto and having a portion extending upwardly there from, and a portion extending substantially along the bracket, a post for securing said bracket to the tail piece of a musical instrument, an adjusting screw extending through said post and acting upon the last mentioned portion of the lever, and a spring having a portion encircling said post and having an upstanding portion acting against the first mentioned portion of the lever.

13. A string tensioning device for musical instruments, including an elbow lever having a fulcrum portion, a bracket for supporting said lever on said fulcrum portion, an ad justing screw carried by said bracket and acting against one end of the lever for swinging the latter to increase the tension of the string, and a spring having an end portion attached to said bracket and the other end portion acting against said lever and in opposition to the action of the adjusting screw.

let. A string tensioning device for musical instruments including a bracket having a post adapted to extend through an aperture in the tail piece of the instrument when in and tending to swing it in the opposite direction.

Signed at New York, in the county of New 1 York and State of New York, this 2nd day of December, A. D. 1922.

EMIL F. HAFELFINGER. 

